Not too long ago, I bought a GPS device that tells me how far I should hit my next golf shot. It uses satellite technology to map out thousands of courses. I just have to tell the device which course I’m playing.
Just about everybody I know has a GPS device for their vehicle. So, no matter where they are, they can dial up help to get to a destination.
And yet, here we are, more than two days after a commercial airliner disappeared in mid-flight, and we have to rely on pieces of debris being eyeballed by a Brazilian air force plane to have any clue about where the doomed jet—and 228 people– may be.
It’s hard to believe with all the advances in technology and satellite tracking that there are still parts of air routes during which pilots are in the dark in terms of radar and communication with controllers.
It’s hard to believe some airlines can now provide Wi-Fi internet access to passengers but the plane itself can vanish without an electronic trace.
Sometimes it takes a terrible tragedy to ring up needed improvements.
Such should be the case with Air France Flight 447.
AGREED! Improvements that SHOULD have been updated LONG time ago are now being observed. Worthless engineers. Great post!
Good Post Jayne. It is unfortunate, but this is just another case, where a group of people have to loose their lives, in order to make improvements on safety, even though as you said, the technology has been there.